Tag Archives: Toledo football

09.19.26
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Plenty of blame to go around for this brutal loss

With very little daylight left and still wanting to get out for a bike ride, I put on my Temple game jersey and Temple hat and was going to flaunt my Temple swag on the way out the door.

After all, it was a great day topped off by a great Temple win.

As Lee Corso might say, not so fast my friend.

The Owls had just gone up, 42-28, on a Sam Brown 2-yard run and there were only 6 minutes, 40 seconds left on the fourth-quarter clock. Looked at my watch. It was 6:19 p.m. I remembered that because 6/19 is my birthday.

Rather than head for the door and get an early start, my 50-plus years as a Temple fan told me to stick around to see this out and watch the kids celebrate on the field. Or brace myself for the unacceptable I’ve seen so many times in the past.

Over the next 6 minutes, I could not believe what I saw. This might be the most brutal Temple loss ever and most of the blame goes not to the kids but to the adults in charge.

By 6:47 p.m., I ripped off the Temple hat and the Temple game jersey and went on the bike ride wearing an Eagles hat and an Eagles jersey because I didn’t want to listen to any Temple questions.

Temple lost, 49-48, in overtime in the most excruciating fashion ever.

First of all, you can’t let a quarterback put up 429 yards on you without putting him on his ass.

Temple didn’t even try to do that.

Where was that great defensive line we’ve been told about for the last six months?

Nowhere.

On Oct. 29, 1988, at Rutgers, then Temple head coach Bruce Arians watched as a similar quarterback, Scott Erney, did the same thing to the Owls that the Toledo quarterback did on Saturday.

Watched until he had enough and decided to put that guy on his ass.

“I was a college quarterback,” Arians said at the time. “I know the best pass defense is putting that guy on his ass. I told (defensive coordinator) Nick (Rapone), ‘Send everybody if you have to. Don’t let him sit back there. If I’m going to go down, I’m going down with my guns blazing.’ “

Temple won the game in the last minute with three straight sacks on all-out blitzes. That Rutgers team beat Penn State, 21-16, but could not beat Temple.

This Saturday was different from that Saturday because Temple went down shooting a water pistol, playing a prevent defense that only prevents winning.

So the No. 1 blame goes to defensive coordinator Brian L. Smith, who allowed that guy to pick Temple apart without ever making him feel uncomfortable. Even head coach K.C. Keeler shares some of the blame because he never whispered in Smith’s ear what Arians whispered to Rapone.

Ajani Sheppard had his best game since his days at Iona Prep.

I know Keeler’s coaching style is to give his assistants a very long rope but he had to see what I saw.

There is also an element of blame to go to the American Conference officiating crew. On the drive that cut the Temple lead from 42-28 to 42-35, there were three straight brutal holds on Davier Bishop, Jaylon Joseph and Cam Jones that allowed three straight completions. Go back and watch the tape. One was a choke hold, one was a face mask, and the other was a trip. How they didn’t see that I will never know. Kind of thought they got the Colin Chase “catch” right later. They saw that. They looked the other way on the holds.

Offensive coordinator Tyler Walker, who otherwise had a good game, had a horrible call on the last play of the game. He basically gave Toledo the game with that fade pass to the tight end.

Why not have Ajani Sheppard roll out, pump a fake to the end zone and run in for the TD if that pass isn’t there? Sheppard was a nightmare all day for Toledo and causing them to account for him as a runner or a passer would have opened up a nice and easy swing pass to Chase, Clarke or Bermudez for a 50-49 win.

Instead, Walker did what Toledo’s defense couldn’t do all day.

Turn Sheppard from a dynamic run/pass threat into a stationary pocket passer.

Toledo should send him a thank you card.

This is the kind of loss that can turn an 8-4 season into a 4-8 one and will certainly make Lincoln Financial Field a mausoleum on Friday when there could have been a decent home crowd fueled by a 2-1 start. Nobody is going to rearrange their work schedules to see a 1-2 team. A 2-1 team with a respectable loss to Penn State would have drawn a much bigger crowd. Temple fans are tired of being disappointed and, after watching that disaster today, I can’t blame them. Crowd vs. Army with a 2-1 record and a win at Toledo: 25,454. Temple crowd on Friday after that disaster? 11,432 and most of them will be Army fans. Not a good look for Temple on national TV during Happy Hour. That defeat took a lot out of Temple fans, who have seen this way too much before and are sick of it.

The Temple adults in charge of the team were to blame for the latest disappointment. The Temple kids deserved better.

Monday: Ranking the moments

09.18.26
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We will know how good Temple is by sunset on Saturday

Toledo is no Penn State and Temple hung with PSU. It is now time for Temple to win.

After very little to take away from the first two games, we will have our answer how good Temple’s 2026 football team is by sunset tomorrow.

That’s a bold statement but backed up by what we have seen so far.

Temple beat an 8-2-1 Toledo team, 35-6, when Bruce Arians was head coach in 1984. That Toledo team played in the California Bowl.

The reality is this: Rhode Island is a good-to-great FCS team, but it was without its all-league quarterback and best defensive player so, while the 38-14 win was impressive on its face value, not much to take away there. We do know this: Toledo would not have beaten Rhode Island, 63-10, like it did with Central Connecticut State.

Penn State exposed what we thought were two Temple weaknesses going into the season: Cornerback and quarterback play. The rest of the Owls were plucky, and the game plan was solid if not spectacular. (For example, if I go for two down 27-9, I’m going for the onside kick right after that. If I’m down 20-3 with a 4th and 1 near midfield and a running game that works, I’m going for the first down to make it 20-10. Instead, Temple punted and PSU went right down the field to make it 27-3.)

The Temple run game and run defense matched up with one of the five most talented rosters in college football and that bodes well for the future.

Yet, because of the two weaknesses, not much to take away there, either.

With his debut for Temple tomorrow, Rutgers’ transfer Sam Brown (scoring against Washington here), becomes the first Temple 4* running back since Juan Gaddy in 1995. (Bernard Pierce, who was a third-round NFL draft choice, was a 3* recruit.)

Back in February, I had to tell it like I saw it after the Owls failed to land a big-time quarterback. I thought this team had a real good shot at eight wins with a proven FCS star or a solid experienced FBS starter, but the Owls instead gambled on a couple of guys not talented enough to see the field at other places. Under those circumstances, one more win than last year was all I could expect. Put it this way: Kennesaw State quarterback Amari Odom was all-conference with his team last year after throwing 19 touchdowns against eight interceptions with a 64.7 completion percentage. He signed at Syracuse to be a backup. Think he’d rather be a starter at Temple?

Yes.

Think Temple has a better chance of winning with a guy like that than what it has?

Damn straight.

So Temple rolled the dice with P4 backups instead of a proven guy like Odom.

However, if the Owls win at Toledo (3 p.m., CBS Sports Network), that roll becomes a seven and an eleven.

Why?

Saturday would be a good day to get this Jaxon Smolik back.

Because Toledo hung with Michigan State and, while the roster of MSU is nowhere near as talented as PSU, you’ve got to think that MSU would be a contender for the title in the American Conference. By association, so would Toledo.

So if the Owls mucked around long enough to stay in tomorrow’s game and win on, say, a Carl Hardin field goal, it would not be outrageous to think they can make a run for a league title, too. While the running game has worked, the Owls have done a very poor job at getting the ball in space to playmakers like JoJo Bermudez, Colin Chase and Peter Clarke. Maybe Sam Brown’s return as the lead back will open up the play-action passing game.

It couldn’t hurt.

Back on Cherry and White Day, Jaxon Smolik threw for three touchdown passes. We haven’t seen that Jaxon Smolik since.

Tomorrow would be as good a time as any for that guy to make a return.

Saturday: Toledo Game Analysis

12.22.15
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Boca Raton Bowl: The Final Game Day

You won’t see much two-minute drill practice here.

Now we have arrived at the final “Leave No Doubt” Game Day and the kids who will be playing in it are safely tucked away in their beds, I have a confession to make: I do not have a good feeling about this game and I usually have a good feeling about every Temple football game.

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No predictions, but this has all of the makings of an ambush. Without a doubt, I feel Temple is the better team in this matchup with Toledo (7 p.m., ESPN) but we all know that the better team doesn’t always win. Just ask Alabama after its loss to Mississippi.

There are other factors, like psychological ones, that have to go into the equation. To me, Toledo sees Temple as a team from a better conference that it could make its season with a win against. I don’t think the feeling is reciprocal from Temple’s end. A lot of things have already made Temple’s season, like tying a school record for wins (10), an extended run in the national top 25, a win over a Power 5 in-state rival (Penn State) and an appearance in a league championship game. Toss in Game Day showing up,  the top TV-rated game of  the Saturday night season, which featured a close loss to a NY6 iconic team, Notre Dame, and you’ve crammed 134 years of Temple accomplishments into three months.

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Temple fans might not be biting their fingernails over this matchup, but some appear to be biting their lips.

Toledo had a short stay in the top 25, no parallel win over an in-state Power 5 rival (beating Ohio State would have been the Rockets equivalent), no school record for wins and no appearance in a league championship game.  No national  TV and no Lee Corso, either. To Toledo, Temple is big, bad Temple and, to Temple, Toledo is just a team from a conference the Owls used to play in before being “promoted.”

New Toledo coach Jason Candle will want to prove to his administration that their confidence in hiring an unproven assistant was well-founded. Temple coach Matt Rhule has nothing to prove to the Temple administration, which already has full confidence in him.

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Today’s Metro has caught Temple fever, something LaSalle grads and Philly.com writers Mike Sielski and David Murphy never will.

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Stir in the Temple season motto “Leave No Doubt” and there is some added doubt. That motto was born in a post-season meeting when the Owls were told they would not be awarded a bowl appearance despite being bowl eligible. Kenny Harper told his teammates to leave no doubt about a bowl invitation next year by their play on the field during the regular season. Harper forgot to make up a slogan for the team when it got to the bowl.

You have to wonder, at least subliminally, if the team is just satisfied by appearing in a bowl. One way to artificially change the mindset would be by, say, a surprise onsides’ kick on the opening kickoff that would say, “Hey, we’re here to win this.” That might get everybody pumped up. Passing out pickle juice in the heat might also help.

I just hope I’m being a worry wart and I’m as wrong as Donald Trump ends up being after his “facts” are checked.  Yeah, that might be it. We should find out long before the clock strikes midnight on this Cinderella season.

Tomorrow: Game Analysis

12.10.15
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Throwback Thursday: When Temple-Toledo Sold Out

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Owls’ first “bowl game” with Toledo in 1984.

There has been much speculation over the last few days about Temple fans traveling for a bowl game with Toledo and I’ve seen figures ranging from 3,000 all the way to 10,000.

There was once a time when Temple played in a bowl game away from home with Toledo and sold the place out with almost all Temple fans. The year was 1984 and, for the Centennial Celebration of Temple University, the team played a regular-season home game, called it the Boardwalk Bowl, and played it at the Atlantic City Convention Center. The school sold all 7,000 tickets to the game, but “only” just fewer than 6,000 Temple fans made the trip.

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Still, it was a memorable game because Toledo came into the Nov. 30th game as the Mid-American Conference champions with an 8-1-1 record. That thing about Al Golden never beating a winning MAC team did not apply to Bruce Arians, who was 5-0 against winning MAC teams.

Arians’ 1984 team pummeled Toledo, 35-6, on the way to a 6-5 record against the then 10th-toughest schedule in the country. (By comparison, Temple’s current scheduled is rated No. 71.)  One of the interesting things about that game was that Toledo’s defense was the No. 4 scoring defense in the country and gave up only 9.9 points per game. It allowed no more than 17 points in a single game before that, but Temple doubled up that figure.

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Temple had a lot of exciting players on the 1984 team, one of which was a sophomore running back named Paul Palmer, who had a then career-high 148 yards. He would later top that in several more memorable games, including 349 in a 45-28 win over East Carolina in 1986.

Another was wide receiver Keith Gloster, who arguably is the fastest man ever to play for Temple. (We say arguably because you will get some arguments from Devin Hester’s cousin, Travis Sheldon, and James Nixon, who took a kickoff back for 103 yards against Navy in 2009.) Gloster caught a 74-yard bomb from Lee Saltz that appeared seriously overthrown when it left Saltz’s  hand, but he was able to run under it.

As good as the offense was, the “no-name” defense was even better with too many good players to single out one or two.

In 1987, Temple visited the Glass Bowl and Toledo coach Dan Simrell called the Owls the best team to ever come into that stadium. The Owls rotated future NFL running back Todd McNair, then a junior, with sophomore Ventres Stevenson, and grinded out a 13-12 win.

No one knows how many Owl fans will be able to make the trip to Boca, but you can be certain most of Arians’ players from  that 1984 team will be there as will a large group of Arians’ players from other years. That group has been tight as a fist and, while a trip to Florida will be a reward for the current Owls, it will be another chance for them to get together.